
Book J 









SUPPOSED DECAY OF FAMILIES 

IN NEW ENGLAND 1^ 

DISPROVED BY THE EXPERIENCE OF THE 
PEOPLE OF CONCORD, MASS. 



By EDWARD JARVIS, M.D. 

M 
OF DORCHESTER, MASS. 



Reprinted from the N. £. Historical and Oembalogical Registbr for October, 1884. 



PRESS OF D PP & SON. 



THE SUPPOSED DECAY OF FAMILIES. 



THERE is much said about the decay of families in New England, and 
this opinion finds some apparent corroboration in the social history of 
Concord, and probably of other towns. 

1 do not know that we have any full and correct account of the early 
settlers of Concord and when they arrived. Mr. Shattuck searched all 
the records which were attainable, and seems to have recorded in the 1st, 
2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th chapters of his History of Concord, and pages 360 to 
388, the names of all the people who were in the town before 1700. I 
have analyzed all these chapters and made the following list, giving the 
year in which they first appeared, or in which any record of their appear- 
ance in the town was found. In the following list the figures before the 
name show the number who bore it ; the figures after the name show the 
years when they appeared, or when they were first recorded ; the letter m 
shows that the person moved away. The mark -}- is affixed to the names 
which are found in the list of voters of Concord in 1881. 

2 Adams, 1646 -f-- Andrews, 1640. Atkinson, 1638 m. Baker, 
1650 +. Ball, 1655. Barker, 1646 +. Barnes, 1661. Barrett, 1640 -f-. 
Barron, early m. 2 Bateman, 1654. Bellows, 1645 m. Bennet, 1647 m. 
3 Billings, 1640. 2 Blood, 1654. 2 Brabrook, 1669. 2 Brooks, 1638 +' 
2 Brown, 1640 -f-. Bulkley, 1635 -f-. Buss, 1639. Buttrick, 1635 -}-* 
Chandler, 1640 -f. Clark, 1686 -f . Cooksey, 1666. Coslin, 1642 m* 
Dakin, 1650 -j-. Darby, 1684 -f. Davis, 1650 -f. 2 Dean, 1645 -[-• 
Dill, 1670. Dowdy, 1645. Draper, 1639. Dudley, 1663. 3 Edmonds, 
1640 m. Edwards, 1642. Evarts, early m. 4 Farrar, 1697 -{-• Far- 
well, 1638 m. 2 Fletcher, 1635 -f. Flint, 1638 -{-. Fowie, early m. 
Fox, 1G40 m. Frissel, 1667 m. French, 1674 m. +. Fuller, 1642 m. -{-. 
Gamblin, 1643. Gobble, 1640. Graves, early m. Griffin, 163- -f. Had- 
lock, 1679. Hall, 1658 m. Halstead, 1645. Hatnilton, 1670 m. Har- 
dy, 1639. Harris, 1669. 2 Hartwell, 1636 j-. Harwood, 1667. Hay- 
ward, 1635. 2 Heald, 1635. Heywood, 1635 -\-. Hoar, 1660 -[-• Uos- 
mer, 1635 -f. How, 1667 -f. Hubbard, 1680 -f. 2 Hunt, 1646+. 
Hutchinson, 1661 -j-. Jones, 1650 -|-. Judson, 1640 m. Lettin, 1639 m. 
Lee, 1635. Marble, 1666 +. Martin, 1685 m. Mason, 1662 -f. Melvin, 
1700 +. 3 Merriam, 1654. Miles, 1640 -f-. Middlebrook, 1644 m. 
Minot, 1680. Mitchell, 1635, m. Oakes, 1682. Odell, 1635 m. Parkes, 
1690. Passmore, 1646. Pellet, 1666. Potter, 1635 -j-. Prescott, 1635. 
Proctor, 1645. Prout, 1675. Purchis, 1680. Reed, 1670. Rice, 1676 -j-. 
Robbins, 1670 -j-. Robinson, 1676 -f. Ross, 1649. Rugg, 1679. Russ, 
1679. Scotchford, 1635. Shepherd, 1648. 2 Smedley, 1635. Smith, 1663 4-. 
Squire, 1640. Standiforth, 1644. Stow, 1640 4. Stratten, 1674. Sy- 
monds, 1635 -f. 2 Taylor, 1656. Temple, 1650 -f-. Thwing, 1642 m. 
Tompkins, 1642. Turney, 1638 m. Underwood, 1638 m. Wheat, 



1639. 6 Wheeler, 1654 +• Whitaker, 1690. Whittemore, 1692. Wil- 
lard, 1635. Wilson, 1635. Wood, 1638 -|-. Woodis, 1656. Woolley, 
lG46-f-. Wright, 1650. 

Names repeated, 18. 

Number of Names, 120 

" of Repetitions, 27 

*' of Persons, 147 

Here are one hundred and twenty different names of persons or families. 
Of these eighteen names are repeated once and more. The whole number 
of the repetitious amount to twenty-seven. Adding these to the 120 names, 
we have 147 persons and families who were in Concord as early as 1700. 
Mr. Shattuck says that twenty-four of these removed elsewhere, leaving 
only one hundred and twenty-three remaining in the town. 

Names on the List of Voters, 1881. — Forty-five of these names reappear 
on the list of voters in 1881. These forty-five names were in the early 
period, 1635 to 1700, borne by sixty-five persons or families. The follow- 
ing is a list of the names of settlers in Concord before 1700, which are 
found in the list of voters in the town in 1881. The figures attached to 
each name indicate the number of voters who bore it. 



Adams 


1 


Flint 


4 


Melvin 


5 


Baker 


2 


French 


1 


Miles 


5 


Barker 


1 


Fuller 


3 


Potter 


2 


Barrett 


12 


Griffin 


2 


Rice 


5 


Brooks 


4 


Hall 


2 


Robbins 




Brown 


11 


Hartwell 


1 


Robinson 




Bulkley 


1 


Heywood 


3 


Smith 




Buttrick 


5 


Hoar 


3 


Stow 




Chandler 


1 


Hosmer 


11 


Symonds 




Clark 


8 


How 


1 


Temple 




Dakin 


4 


Hubbard 


3 


Wheeler 


18 


Davis 


4 


Hunt 


7 


Wood 


5 


Dean 


1 


Hutchinson 


1 


Wright 


5 


Derby 


8 


Jones 


1 






Farrar 


1 


Marble 


1 


Total, 


167 


Fletcher 


1 


Mason 


1 







Thus we see these forty-five names of the immigrants who appeared in 
the town from 1635 to 1700, were borne on the list of voters by one hun- 
dred and sixty-seven men in 1881— two hundred and forty-six to one hun- 
dred and eighty-one years afterward. 

Hutchinson, one of these voters in 1881, is a colored man and cannot be 
a descendant of the early settler of the same name. Doubtless some oth- 
ers of these voters in 1881, who bore the names of the early inhabitants of 
the town, cannot trace their ancestry to them ; but it is safe to presume 
that nearly the whole of these one hundred and sixty-six males, twenty-one 
years old in 1881, were descendants of those forty-four men of the "early 
period. 

All the other men and their names disappeared from Concord in that 
period of one hundred and eighty-one years. Very many of the early set- 
tlers removed to other towns. Concord was, in"l635, the most remote 
settlement from the sea-coast, ''■■it this was merely a resting-place for 



many, who, as soon as they could see their way clearly and safely, went 
fartlier into the wilderness — to Groton,' Sudbury, Lancaster and the Con- 
necticut River valley. 

In every generation some of the families have found insufficient room for 
their children in Concord, or insufficient opportunity for occupation or en- 
terprise according to their education, their hopes or their ambition, and not 
unfrequently this only male heir of the family who was induced to settle 
abroad was the last one of the name in Concord, and when he left, the fam- 
ily was extinct in Concord ; it was run out as to that place. But the ex- 
tinction was limited to Concord. Tliese emigrants settled in other towns 
and states. They married, had their children elsewhere, and their genera- 
tions following thereafter kept up the fjimily and the name in many other 
places. 

The descendants in the male line of families that once lived in Concord, 
keeping up their respective names now in many, probably in most, of the 
states of the union, in probably every county of the state and a verj^ large por- 
tion of the towns in Massachusetts, are a host far greater than all the pre- 
sent residents of Concord. Thus, though so many families have run out 
as to that town and seem to be completely extinguished, they are as full 
and as strong as ever, with a fair prospect of being followed by a line of 
posterity in perpetual succession of generations. 

Especially is this decay apparent in the f;irraers' families. Almost al- 
ways the farm descends to one heir (son), and the others must find occupa- 
tion and residence elsewhere. In the course of generations it not unfre- 
quently happens that a farmer dying leaves no sou, or none that wish to be 
farmers. The farm may pass to the daughters who, if they marry, hold it 
in another name, and the farm is known no longer by the name of the old 
proprietor. But the brothers of the last heir and her male cousins or sec- 
ond cousins, grandchildren or great-grandchildren of the proprietor of two 
or three generations before, they have their families in other places and 
other occupations, and keep up the name and the character as they had 
been on the ancestral farm. 

Some Farmer Families of Concord. — The history of several of the 
oldest, most prominent and prosperous families of Concord gives some in- 
stances of a[)parent exhaustion. 

In the early part of this century the most numerous families of farmers 
in Concord bore the following names. The figures show the years when 
they first appeared in town : 

Buttrick, 1635; Hosmer, 1635; Potter, 1635; Prescott, 1635; Flint, 
1638; Barrett, 1640; Brown, 1640; Hunt, 1646; Dakin, 1650; Wheel- 
er, 1654; Minot, 1680; Derby, 1684; Farrar, 1697; Melvin, 1700. 

These were the principal farmers of Concord in the first quarter of this 
century. They held their farms from their fathers and their grandfathers, 
and all of them have their ancesters in the seventeenth century. As they 
had been for ages the possessors of their farms, it seemed probable that 
their lands and homes would remain permanently in the line of their de- 
scendants and names. 

Barrett Family. — Within my remembrance the Barretts were the most 
substantial and prosperous of the farmers in Concord. Major James Bar- 
rett inherited his farm from his father, and he from his father before him. 
He died in 1850, aged 89. He (James) had two sons, James and George. 



James went to Rntland, Vt., was a prosperous merchant, and died at the 
af^e of 80. He had several sons, but I know nothing more of the family. 

° George inherited tiie farm, and was successful on it, but sold it to a 
stranger before lie died in 1873, aged 78. His sons went to New York 
and the West, and engaged in other business. I do not know whether they 
married or had any male children. 

Joseph Barrett, the brother of Major James, was bred a tanner, but he 
bouo-ht the Lee farm, which he cultivated until his death in 1849, at the 
ao-e of 71. He left two sons, but neither cared to take and carry on the 
farm, which was sold, and now is owned and cultivated by Charles Henry 
Hurd. One of his sons, J. F. Barrett, is a lawyer of Boston, but resident 
in Concord. He is married but has no son. The second son, Richard, is 
the secretary of the Middlesex Fire Insurance Company, living in Concord. 
He is married and has sons and grandsons. 

Peter Barrett was a farmer and a tanner, living about a quarter of a mile 
north east of Maj. James. He died in 1808, leaving sons — Prescott, Sher- 
man and Benjamin. Prescott took the farm and carried it on until his 
death in 1861, at the age of 7G. He left sons, one of whom has the farm and 
is married. Benjamin was a physician in Northampton, married and had 
one son who died urunarried. Sherman bought the farm of Capt. Bates, 
on the Bedford road near the town line, and cultivated it till his death in 
18(j;5, at the age of 70. He left several sons, but none that took the farm, 
which was sold to another family. Two or more of his sons live in the 
town. Dr. Henry A. Barrett is married and has no son. Other sons are, 
I think, married, but I have no knowledge of their issue. 

Samuel Barrett had a farm and a mill on the same road next the corner 
of the back road to Acton. He died in 1825, aged 51, leaving two sons, 
Samuel and Rufus. Some years ago they sold the farm and mill to Mr. 
Angier, who now cariies them on. Samuel did not marry. He died in 
1872, aged 60. Rufus married but had no children. His wife died eai'ly 
and he remained a widower. 

Thomas Barrett lived at the south-east angle of the Hildreth corner. He 
died in 1816, aged 79. I know nothing about his children. 

Stephen Barrett was a farmer and tanner, living on the Westford road 
a (piarter of a mile or more N. N. W. from the school-house, at the angle 
of the Westford and Carlisle road. He died on his farm in 1824, aged 74. 
His son Emerson took the farm and occupied it until his death. His son 
Abel took the farm, but before many years sold it and moved to Vermont 
and engaged in the lumber business. I do not know whether he had any 
brothers, nor whether he was married and had children. 

Nathan Barrett lived on Punkatasset Hill. I think he inherited the 
farm from his father. He was successful through his life, and died in 1829, 
aged 65. He left one son, Nathan, who occupied the farm, and was a very 
successful farmer until his death in 1868, aged 71. He left four sons. 
Nathan H. died unmarried. Edwin is a merchant in Boston. He is mar- 
ried, lives near the Col. Buttrick farm and has one or more sons. Arthur 
and Sidney (sons of Nathan) are, I think, not married. On their father's 
death the farm was sold to Mr. Hornblower, and by him to Mr. John B. 
Tileston, who now occupies it. lie sold it to Mr. Meigs. 

Humphrey Barrett was direct descendant from Humphrey, who came to 

Concord from England in 1640. He took the farm which now Mr. 

Lang owns and occupies, and his the fourth generation held it. 

The last Humphrey was marriec, children. He died in 1827, 



at the age of 75, and left his estate to Abel B. Heywood, nephew of bis 
wife. lie sold it to Mr. Lang. Humphrey had one brother Abel who 
became a merchant and died in Liverpool, leaving one son who died at the 
age of 1 8. 

Joel Barrett owned and lived on a ftirm on the north-east Carlisle road, 
Monument Street, half a mile or more from the Carlisle line. He was son 
of John. He died in 1863, aged 7G, and his son now owns and cultivates 
the farm. I think he is married, but I know nothing of his family. 

Thus of the nine farms, those of Maj. James, Joseph, Samuel, Thomas, 
Stephen, Nathan and Humphrey have passed from the possession of their 
families, and only two, Peter's and Joel's, are now occupied by the 
Barretts. 

In 1881 there were twelve Barretts on the voting list, residents at least 
twenty-one years old. 

Broxon Family. — Col. Roger Broioyi was born in Framingham. He early 
came to Concord and set up the clothier business, dyeing and dressing 
cloth. He built a small cotton factory and had a farm which he occupied 
until bis death in 1840, at the age of 91. He had two sons — William, 
who died in 1825, aged 45, leaving, I think, no son; and John, died with- 
in a few years, aged 80 or more, leaving two sons, John and William. 
John became a merchant in Concord, was married and had three or more 
sons. Some of these are married. William took the farm, married and 
had daughters, and one son now in college. 

Samuel Brown lived on the Westford and Carlisle road, near the part- 
ing of the roads to these respective towns. He had several sons. John 
became a physician in western New York, but I know nothing of his fam- 
ily. Joshua inherited the farm. He died in 1855. (He was married and 
had three or perhaps more sons.) Amasa took a farm in the country, but 1 
know nothing of his domestic condition. Joseph took the farm of his fa- 
ther and grandfather and converted it into a great milk farm, and then 
became exclusively a milk merchant, buying up all the milk of the towns 
as far as he could get it, which he now does, and the farm is in tlie hands 
of strangers. He has two or more sons ; one and perhaps others are 
married. Warren, another son of Joshua Brown, bought a neighboring 
farm of the heirs of Mr. Jacob Melvin. He died some years ago, leaving 
one or more sons, one of whom takes the farm. James P.. Brown, a fourth 
sou of Joshua, married and had four or five sons. One is a minister, ano- 
ther in business in Boston, a third died, and the fourth has the farm near 
the old Stow road, within half a mile or more of the Derby's bridge 
across the Assabet river. I do not know whether there are any other male 
descendants of Samuel Brown. 

Ephraim Brown lived on Punkatasset Hill on the south slope and north- 
west of the road, near to Nehemiah Hunt. He died in 1839, aged 81. He 
lost many children in 1815 of typhus fever. I have the impression he had 
no sons who grew to maturity. 

Abel Brown, stone-layer, laborer and fisherman, lived on the spot now 
owned by George Keyes. He died in 1826, aged 67. He had one son Tlio- 
mas, who followed the occupation of his father, but disappeared early and 
left no trace behind. 

Zachariah Broion was a laborer, living in the east quarter. He died in 
the poor-house in 1833. He left one or more sons. All the family disap- 
peared in my boyhood. 



8 



V^ 



Reiihen Broivn came from SucJbuiy in the last century, and died in 1852, 
af^ed 94. lie had sons Reuben, George and Tilley. Reuben did not mar- 
ry, and died in 1854, aged 74. George and Tilley went to Bangor, Me., 
but whether they married or had children, or wiien they died, I have no 
knowledge. 

I do not know that any of these six families — Col. Roger, Samuel, Eph- 
raim, Abel, Zachariah and Reuben — originated in Concord or had common 
origin in any remote ancestor. 

T/ionias Brown was in Concord in 1640. His son Thomas, born 1650, 
was town clerk in 1717, had Boaz, Thomas, Mary, Edward ; but it is diffi- 
cult to trace the five farther (Shattuck, p. 365). 

Within my remembrance there were families of the name. 

Jacob, son of Ezekiel, lived where now Abel B. Clark is living. He 
died, leaving his farm to his grandson Jacob B. Farmer, and he sold it to 
Abel B. Clark. Abishai, another son of Ezekiel, had a fiirm east of Jona. 
Hildreth's, was not married, and died in 1839, aged 61. 

There were eleven of the name on the voting list of 1881. 

Biittrich Family. — Col. John Buttrich, who was conspicuous in the Con- 
cord fight, April 19, 1775, was a farmer living near the river on the north 
side. He had six sons. John and Jonas remained in Concord ; Levi set- 
tled in Athol ; Stephen in Fraraingham ; Silas and Gates in Clinton, N. Y. 
Col. John inherited a part, at least, of his father's farm, and cultivated it 
until his death in 1825, aged 65. He left four sons — John, Grosvenor, 
David and George — none of whom were farmers. John went to Lowell, 
became a mechanic, married and had two sous. I do not know whether 
either of these two sons married, nor anything of their history. Grosve- 
nor became a machinist, was employed in some of the mills at Dover, N. H., 
and perhaps elsewhere. He married and had one son. David also became 
a machinist, settled in a manufacturing town in the western part of the 
state. He married and died early. He left two sons who followed the 
same business and are married, but neither has a son. George was in New 
York state in some mercantile employment. He married, but has no son. 

Col. Jonas Buttrick, brother of Col. John and sou of Col. John the elder, 
inherited a part of the farm of his father near his brother. There he lived 
until his death in 1845, aged 80. He left one son, Stedman Buttrick, who 
iidierited the farm of his ancestors and cultivated it until his death in 1877, 
at the age of 78. He left two sons, George and William, who are now liv- 
ing. William became a machinist. He lives in the village, is married, 
and has a son. George is unmarried, has spent the last nineteen or twenty 
years mostly in Louisiana, in the employment of the U. S. government and 
in some commercial undertakings ; but is now (1882) at home with his sis- 
ters. The farm is still in the hands of the family. 

Capt. Samuel Buttrick owned and occupied a farm in the valley north 
of Punkatasset Hill and a quarter of a mile from the public highwav, the 
north-east Carlisle road, from which a lane leads to his house. He died in 
1820 at the age of 58. He left two sons, Ephraim and Joshua. Ephraim 
became a lawyer, practised successfully in Cambridge, and died aged over 
80 years. He left two sons who went to the western country, but whether 
they married and have any children, I do not know. Joshua inherited the 

farm and occupied it for several years and then sold it. I think, to Mr. 

Lee. Certainly he owned it afterward. Then Mr. Holden bought it, and 
subsequently sold it, and now it is the property of William Hunt Joshua 



was married twice ; had three or four daughters but no sons. "When Gen. 
Joshua Buttrick sold his father's farm he bouglit the house and farm for- 
merly the property of Edward Wriglit, on the same road and a quarter of 
a mile south-east of Punkatasset Plill. There he lived until his death. 
That farm is now owned and occupied by Richard Barrett. 

David Buttrick had a farm on the north-east Carlisle road, where he 
lived until his death in 1840, at the age of 70. His only son, David, took 
the farm and cultivated it with great success until about 1872, when he 
moved to a new house near the bridge, where he still lives in good health 
at the age of 83. He has several sons, none of whom are farmers. All 
are married and have sons. The farm was sold to his daughter's husband, 
Mr. Holden. 

Joseph Buttrick owned and cultivated a farm very near to David's until 
his death in 1841, at the age of 77. He had no son, but two daughters. 
Mary married Charles Dakin, who took the farm and held it until his death 
in 1878, at the age of 70. He left one son who took the farm, but soon 
sold it to a stranger and went into other business. Sarah, the second 
daughter of Joseph Buttrick, was never married. She died in 1881. 

Jonathan Buttrick had a farm on the north-east Carlisle road, about a quar- 
ter of a mile south-east of Joseph Buttrick. There he lived until his death 
in 1845, aged 80. He had two sons — one, Jonathan, became a stage-driver. 
He married and died without children. Abuer inherited the farm and cul- 
tivated it until his death in 1870, at the age of 71. He left one son who 
sold the farm to Mr. Whiting and moved away. Thus of the five farmers 
of the name of Buttrick, four of their farms have passed into other hands 
and names. 

There were five voters of the name in Concord in 1881. 

Hosmer Family. — James Hosmer came with the first immigrants in 1 635, 
and is supposed to have settled on and occupied the farm east of and bor- 
dering on the Assabet river, running from the Stow to the Groton road. 
The southern part was occupied by Elijah Hosmer until his death in 1828, 
at the age of 78. At his death this farm then descended to his grandson 
Joseph. He afterwards sold it and went to Illinois, leaving in Concord no 
descendants of his grandfather bearing the name. But he married and has 
at least one son in Chicago who is married. The northern part of this 
farm has been and still is in possession and occupied by a branch of the 
family. Jesse Hosmer in the last generation owned it until his death in 
1829, at the age of 86. His son, now over 80 years of age, owns and lives 
upon it. He has two sons, one living in Waltham, not a farmer. The oth- 
er son, Prescott, lives with his father. He has been married, but buried 
his wife, and he has a second wife. I do not know whether he has any 
sons. 

John Hosmer lived on the old Stow road, about half a mile east by north 
of the Assabet river. He died in 1836, aged 84, leaving two sous, John 
and Edmund. John took the farm and lived on it till he died in 1843, at 
the age of 74, leaving one or more sons, one of whom has the farm, and, I 
think, is married, but whether he has any children I do not know. 

Pvdmund had a farm on the Lincoln road, and in 1853 bought and re- 
moved to the Capt. Hunt farm, where he lived until his death in 1881, at 
the age of 83. He left three sons in the western country, all married. 
John has two sons. I do not know whether the other sons have any 
children. 



10 

3Taj. Joseph Hosmer lived on the Stow road near the Coucord river and 
the South Bridge. He died in 18-21, aged 85. He had two sons, Cyrus and 
Rufus. Rufus was a hiwyer in Stow, married and had one son, Rufus. He 
died in 1839, aged 61. His son Rufus married, but died early, and I think 
left no son. Cyrus died in 1818, at the age of 53. Pie left two sons, Cy- 
rus and George Washington. Cyrus left two sons — Henry, now president 
of the Acton Powder Company, married and has one child ; Cyrus inherits 
and cultivates the farm of his father, grandfather and great-grandfather. 
He is married and has children. George W. Hosmer, the second son of 
Cyrus, was a minister in Butlalo, N. Y. He married and had three sons, 
one of whom, James, is professor in Washington University, St. Louis, Mo. 
He is married and has four sons. The second sou, William, is a merchant 
in Oswego, N. Y., married and has children. The third, George H., is a 
minister in Salem, Mass., married and has one son. 

Nathan Hosmer, son of Stephen and grandson of the elder Stephen, in- 
herited and cultivated the farm of his father in Nine Acre Corner near the 
river and Haven pond. He died in 1778 at the age of 38, and left two 
sons, Silas and Nathan, and three daughters, Mrs. Potter, Mrs. Jarvis, and 
Elizabeth, unmarried. Silas sold the farm and went to Montague on the 
Connecticut River, where he had several sons, who married and left their 
sons in that valley. These grandsons also married and have sons. Nathan 
became a cabinet-maker, lived in Concord village, married and had Isaac, 
George, Abiel, Rufus, Nathan and Silas. Isaac married and had one son, 
lately living in Lowell. George did not marry. Rufus married, had daugh- 
ters, but no son. Abiel went to New Hampshire. I think he married and 
had sons. Nathan is a carpenter in Concord village, married and has three 
sons. Silas is a mason in Concord village, and has two or more sons. 

Nathaniel Hosmer had a farm in Nine Acre Corner. He died in 1862, 
aged 76. I know nothing about his family. 

Some of the family went early to Acton, and the name has been common 
there for over a century. The name is to be found in Walpole, N. H., in 
Watertown, Framinghani, Medford, Boston and elsewhere, and there were 
on the list of Concord voters eleven of the name in 1881. 

Hunt Family. — In the first quarter of the present century there were 
three farms in the possession of the family : Nehemiah on Punkatasset Hill ; 
Reuben owned and occupied the farm on the Carlisle road next north of the 
river ; and Thaddcus on the Lincoln road. All inherited, or seemed to in- 
herit, their estates and homes from several generations of ancestors. Ne- 
hemiah died in 1818, aged 82, leaving the farm to his sons Nehemiah and 
Daniel. Nehemiah, the second, died in 1845, aged 53, leaving two daugh- 
ters but no son. Daniel died in 1873, aged 70, leaving William who now 
owns and occupies the farm. Thaddeus owned and occupied the fiirm on 
the Cambridge and Concord turnpike, about three fourths of a mile east of 
the mill brook. About fifty years ago or more he died, and the estate was 
sold to Augustus Tuttle. I know of no trace of this branch of the Hunt 
family in Concord or elsewhere. 

John Hunt, in 1701, bought the farm of Adam Wiuthrop, situated on 
the Carlisle, Westford and Lowell road, adjoining the Concord and Assa- 
bet rivers. The house is about one-eighth of a mile from the bridge. It 
was built in 1701, and stood one hundred and fifty-seven years until it was 
taken down in 1858. John was son of Nehemiah. 

William Hunt was in Concord before 1640. One of his sons was Ne- 
hemiah, who was the ancestor of several of the branches of the family in 



11 

Concord. His son John was born in 1G73. John's son Simon, the deacon, 
was born in 1704 and died in 1790. One of Simon's sons, Jose|)h, was 
born in 1748, was a physician in Concord, and died in 1812, aged G4. He 
left three sons. Reuben, another son, born in 1744, died in 1816, aged 72. 
Reuben married and had four sons and six daughters: 

1. Humphrey inherited the farm and cultivated it until his death in 1852, 
at the age of 81. He left one son Charles who is now fifty years old, un- 
married. 

2. Reuben became a morocco-dresser in Charlestown. He married and 
had three daughters and one son. He died in 1866 at the age of 83. His 
son died unmarried. 

3. Simon, who became a harness-maker and went to Camden, Maine, 
where he died at the age of 84. He had three sons and one daughter. 
His eldest son followed his father's occupation, married and lived in Cam- 
den, and had two sons. The second son of Simon became a shoemaker and 
lives in Wisconsin. He is married, and I think has sons. The third son 
is an undertaker in Bangor, married and has sons. 

4. Abel, the fourth son of Reuben of Concord, became a merchant in 
Chelmsford. He never married. He died at the age of 87 in Concord. 

Thus we find only one farm iu possession of the Hunts. But there are 
seven voters of the name on the list, and there are in Acton, Sudbury and 
other towns descendants of branches of the family who have iu former 
generations left the town. 

Derby Family. — The first mention of this family is in 1684. They have 
lived on the same farm next west of the Assabet river, on the Stow road, 
for six generations. This farm adjoins the river. In all their generations 
the farm has descended in a single line, and all, until the present owner, 
have borne the name of Joseph. Benjamin has the old homestead, is mar- 
ried and has two sons; Edward, unmarried, and the mother, aged ninety-two 
(March, 1884), live with him. Joseph has a farm which he manages with 
great wisdom and success. It is on the north side of the Concord river, on 
the road from the Lowell Street bridge to the Monument Street bridge. 
it was formerly the home and property of Col. John Buttrick, later the 
home and property of Dea. Francis Jarvis and his son Captain Francis 
Jarvis, and on the death of the latter passed to his daughter, the wife of 
Joseph Derby. He has two sous. Urban Derby has • a farm on the 
"Westford road, formerly the property of Stephen, and afterward of Em- 
erson Barrett. He has sons. Henry Derby owns and occupies a farm 
in Nine Acre Corner, lately the property of Daniel Garfield and form- 
erly of Moses Binney. He has sons. Nathan Derby is in the provision busi- 
ness in the village. He has two sons. Thus these six sons of the late Joseph 
Derby all live in Concord, five of them farmers, five married, and all the 
last have sons. There are on the list of voters eight of the family. 

Wheeler Family. — There were six of the name among the early settlers, 
and their families until this day have been and are the most numerous in 
the town. They seem to be the most fixed and the least inclined to move 
abroad. They have mostly confined themselves to Nine Acre Corner and 
to the cultivation of the earth. They have certainly, within the last two 
or three generations, been wise, industrious ^'-d successful. 

Abner Wheeler, one hundred ye , was a carpenter and farmer 

in the east quarter, on the Virgiui bad several sons, all of whom 

went away. 



12 

Ephraim'']Vhpeler^\\\'e({ on his farm on the Sudbury road, opposite Acad- 
emy hxne. \\-c died in 1809, at the age of 93. He had two sons; Jona- 
than was a mercUant in Boston. ' He died in the first of this century ia 
Liverpo6l. He was unmarried. Epliraim inherited the fiirm and cultivat- 
ed'it until his death in 1840, at the age of 75. He left sons — Henry A., 
wljo cultivated part of the same lauds, and died in 1881, at the age of 78, 
leaving sbos ; Jonathan, who was a merchant in Cambridge but now lives 
in Concord, an eighth of a mile south of his father's house, is married and 
lias Que or more sons ; and Abiel still cultivates a part of his father's farm 
very successfully. He is married and has sons. 

John H. Wheeler, in 1834-5-G, lived on the Acton road, a mile or more 
from Barrett's mill. He had children, but I do not know whether he had 
any son, or anything about the family since. 

Thomas Wheeler. He had no f<^inily. 

Artemas Wheeler lived near^he fectory, but I know nothing more of him 
or his family. 

Some of the name went to Lincoln, to Acton, to other towns and states. 
There were on the list of voters of 1881, eighteen of the name. They oc- 
cupy most of the land in the Nine Acre Corner, and their children seem to 
promise to fill the places of their fathers. But I cannot trace their gen- 
ealogies. 

This account shows that the Barretts had in the early years of this cen- 
tury eight farms, and of these only two remain in their families and name, 
and six have passed into other hands. But there were in 1881 six fam- 
ilies and twelve voters of the name .in Concord, beside many in other towns. 

In the early periods there were six farms owned and occupied by the 
Buttrichs. Now five of these have passed into other hands, and only one 
is retained and occupied by one of the name ; but there were five voters of 
the name in Concord in 1881, and many in other places. 

In the first quarter of this century there were three farms owned and 
occupied by the Woods. Now two of these are sold and owned by other 
families, and only one retained by a Wood. There were five voters of the 
name in the town in 1881, besides many elsewhere, who or whose fathers 
were born on these farms. 

In the former time three farms were in possession and occupation of the 
Hunts. Now only one remains in the name. There were seven of the name 
on the list of voters in 1881, besides many of Concord origin in other places. 

In the former period there were six farms owned and cultivated by the 
Hosmcrs. Now three of these have passed into other families, and only 
three are in the hands of the Hosmers, But there were eleven voters of 
the name in town in 1881, and also many who or whose fathers were born 
on these farms, now living elsewhere. 

Two generations ago there were four farms owned and occupied by the 
Browns. There are four now, and there were eleven voters of the name in 
1S81 in town, and very many of the name in other places whose parents 
once lived on these farms. 

At that early period three farms were owned and occupied by the Flints. 
Now all are sold to other families, but there were four voters of the name in 
Concord in 1881. 

The Wheelers were always numerous and little disposed to change either 
residence or occupation. There were eighteen voters of the name in Con- 
cord in 1881. 



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